The PP candidate for the European Parliament is resting in a central hotel in Madrid. She has a long day ahead of her: the main event of the campaign in the capital and what will be her third television debate. The last two weeks have been spent traveling from province to province, 25 to be exact, dragging along the previous Catalan campaign. Even so, Dolors Montserrat draws strength and pulls from her repertoire in her interview with 20 minutes to give, on the penultimate day of the campaign, the main keys to an election that, he acknowledges, are less known to Spaniards.
No less important for that reason. On the contrary: he warns that Spain has “a lot” at stake, nothing more and nothing less than its Rule of Law, the same one that it promises to continue defending in Europe. For this reason, he asks the Spanish Let them vote on 9J as if it were the motion of censure against the corruption that, in their opinion, “stalks” Pedro Sánchez and against the amnesty. The popular one shows her exhaustion with respect to the campaign that the PSOE is leading. She believes that she does not have a project for Europe and only accuses the opposition of being “ultras and radicals” when “the most ultra and radical thing is to give equality and the Government to a fugitive from Justice.”
What is special about these elections compared to previous ones?We have a lot at stake: the defense of the rule of law and the equality of all Spaniards in Europe. Also, the countryside and the sea. We have to help farmers not be suffocated by bureaucracy and fight against unfair competition and help transporters of food products who are currently blocked at the border. We see a Government that has abandoned the primary sector and transporters.
What should be the main objectives of the EU in the new legislature?The defense of the rule of law, which is article two of the Treaty. What cannot be is for the Government of Spain to hand over governance to a fugitive from justice. Nobody in Europe would imagine the socialist German chancellor handing over the equality of all Germans to a fugitive from German justice. We see a government that points fingers at judges, the press and the opposition and manipulates institutions.
This could be used for general purposes. I understand that European objectives transcend Spain’s problems.This is not a problem for Spain, it is a problem for Europe. Article two of the Union Treaty speaks clearly about the defense of the rule of law. Outside the law there are only totalitarianisms. The EPP, who are the majority force, have always defended the defense of the Rule of Law in the 27 states, because without democracy there is no freedom or Welfare State and there is no progress or employment. Every attack made on Spanish democracy is an attack on European democracy and the values of the EU.
His party supports both states. Why do you reject that Sánchez has promoted recognizing Palestine?International politics in Spain has always been done through dialogue and consensus. Sánchez has abandoned the consensus and the unitary response of the EU in international politics for an exclusive political interest in covering up the infamous amnesty and corruption that stalks his wife, his party and his government.
Has Meloni become the object of desire of some EPP leaders?The PSOE has no project for Europe. We are tired of the fact that the only electoral campaign that the PSOE does is to talk about being extreme, ultra and radical, when the most extreme, ultra and radical thing is to hand over the equality of all Spaniards and the Government to a fugitive from justice.
Are you committed to returning to a pact with socialists and liberals in the European Parliament or would you open yourself to a pact with ECR and Meloni?We go out to win, let the Europeans vote on June 9.
All the surveys, except the CIS, place it as the first force. How much do they aspire to get out of the PSOE?The CIS is the example of Sánchez’s manipulation of institutions. In the last year, the PP has won the municipal, regional and general elections. More and more Spaniards see us as the alternative to sanchismo and nationalism, that Europeanist and reformist force that governs from centrality. We will win again.
You promise to once again be the voice against amnesty in Europe. What judicial path does the law see in the CJEU?We can be the dam to contain the amnesty, which is the most undemocratic. We are going to use all the political, legislative and judicial instruments that the PP has, both at the Spanish and European level, to stop this amnesty law.
When will they appeal to the TC?When it’s time. The Spanish and European PP are studying all possibilities.
What do you think of what has surrounded Sánchez’s five days of reflection and the letters to the citizens?It is a shame that Sánchez, who came to the Government claiming to champion the fight against corruption and transparency, gives all of us Spaniards opacity and is being devoured by corruption. What Sánchez has to do is the same thing that his party colleagues, such as Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa or Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, have done: address the entire nation and call general elections.
Will there be elections after the European elections?It is what it has to be and it is what we demand it to be, as all prime ministers do in Europe for a case like this. We have the Tito Berni, the Ábalos case, the Adif case and the case of his wife. He has to explain himself to the nation and call elections.
And if he doesn’t… motion of censure?The biggest motion there is is 9J, the Spanish have a unique opportunity and should not wait for general elections. Let everyone go out and vote to say enough is enough to the corruption that threatens the president’s environment, not to the infamous amnesty law and enough is enough to the tampering with the institutions.
They demand that Sánchez resign, but far from that he reappears with his wife in the final stretch of the campaign.He hides behind two shameful letters and the Moncloa. Sánchez does not care about Spain, only about power. It is unprecedented in Europe that the wife of a prime minister is being investigated and has to testify for crimes of corruption and influence peddling and that nothing happens.
“We must fight climate change, but without Ribera’s sectarianism”
Why do you describe the socialist candidate Teresa Ribera as “the greatest enemy of the countryside and the sea”?That’s how it is. He has been suffocated and abandoned to the countryside and the sea. I myself was the one who saved the wine sector. The PSOE intended to put the same label on the bottles as that on the tobacco packets, which would have meant the ruin of a sector that is the leading exporter of wine in volume in the world. In addition, Ribera fails to protect ranchers against wolves, as last year in 2023 we lost 13,000 head of cattle. Or, for example, I managed to prevent Asian rice from reaching Europe. We have to continue defending as with a flexible CAP, with water infrastructure to fight against drought, unfair competition and against bureaucracy. For this we propose that the Agriculture Commissioner be from the EPP.
What is your proposal for the automobile sector?The EPP is in favor of the fight against climate change, but we do so neither from the denialism of some nor from the ideological sectarianism of Ribera and the entire left. We believe that the combustion engine with synthetic fuels and the electric car can be compatible, while Ribera intends to end the fuel engine automotive sector, even though we are the second country in the manufacturing and production of cars. On top of that, he is not investing in the electric car, therefore, he is also ruining families.
What does your promise to approve a European Mental Health plan consist of?Quick access to all treatments and help give you visibility. Because mental health is the great silent pandemic. There is a European report that says that 60% of young people need mental health support. Therefore, let’s help them, because they are the great abandoned ones of the Government of Spain.
Ukraine is asking NATO and friendly countries to be able to use weapons to make incursions into Russian territory. Biden has authorized it. What should be Spain’s response?The unitary response of the Union. Never ever make decisions freely and unilaterally, for political or campaign interests. We have seen in these two years of war in Ukraine that there has always been a united response from all the European institutions and the EPP has led, from the Presidency of the Commission, that response and help to the Ukrainian people. The most important thing is the victory of Ukraine and its becoming a member of the EU as soon as possible.
So what should be the Union’s response?Let’s wait until the elections are over so that the institutions get up and running and we seek that consensus of the Union.
